Sand Fox
by darkestdepths90
Summary: Kyuubi's chakra has strange affects on Naruto at the age of five and he gets fed up with the villagers treatment, he leaves while hiding in a group of diplomats. Don't own Naruto
1. Chapter 1

A mob of people chased a young boy through the alleyways of Konohagakure, but this boy was not like others. He ran from them on all fours, his knees bent the wrong way, moving swiftly, had three whisker-like marks on each cheek, his golden blonde hair hiding the kitsune ears that are pulled back against his head, and the same color tail trailing behind him. His name, Naruto Uzumaki, age 5, born the day the Nine-tailed Fox, Kyuubi no Youko, attacked the village. After being used to contain the demon, he was condemned to a life of pain and suffering at the villagers hands, for they saw him not as the container, but as the demon itself.

He had no love for this village, everywhere he went he was spat upon, and beaten, but it was the glares that hurt most, far more than any physical treatment. There were only three people who even seemed to care about him, the Hokage, who Naruto knew was the only reason he was kept alive after the sealing, the owner of Ichiraku's Ramen Bar, Teuchi, and his daughter Ayame. He was told of the fox when he sprouted his tail on the morning of his fifth birthday, after that point, his eyes become cold and emotionless and the mask he had worn to hide his pain was shattered.

Running through the alleyways was a common occurrence, and as such, Naruto knew them very well. With his heightened senses, he could hear every word the mob was saying and could smell the alcohol on they breath. The walls were nothing but blurs as he went past them, heading for the edge of the village. 'I'm fucking sick of this shit! The old man protects me when he can, but he's not going to be around forever. Things will only get worse if I stay here, I have to leave.' Without realizing it, he had run into a dead end and the mob closed the only way out.

"We have you now demon, you have no way to escape."

"You think so?" Naruto smiled and jumped, instinctively using chakra to propel himself on to the rooftop. He ran along the roof, leaping to another when he couldn't. He could hear curses as the ninja in the group followed on the roofs while the rest tried to keep up on the ground. Even though they were ninja, the ones following him couldn't keep up, but were able to keep him in sight, which wasn't hard because of the orange jumpsuit he wore. He dropped back to the ground when he neared the wall that surrounds the village.

'I need to find a way out that won't cause attention.' When he got near the gate, he saw the diplomats from Sunagakure preparing to leave. They had a merchant with them, who sat in his wagon of goods as they were being inspected by a chunin. 'Perfect, when he's not looking, I'll sneak under the wagon.' Naruto could hear the mob approaching and the chunin was taking his sweet time, but Naruto caught a break when a women called out a name and the man turned around and stopped a young girl.

Naruto took advantage of the distraction and moved at incredible speeds to get under the wagon without being seen. "Are we done? We must leave now to avoid the roads at night and still travel a good distance."

"Yes, everything checks out. I sorry for keeping you." Naruto crept silently as the wagon started to move. He looked from side to side to see if anyone noticed and caught the girl's gaze. She continued to stare at him and he did the same as he moved. He knew those eyes, the eyes of a Hyuga, but they weren't the same. Where the other were always white, hers where lavender and held kindness instead of spite. He bowed his head to her as he passed through the gate.

Naruto planned on continuing to move under the wagon until he was far enough away from the village, but his pressense was agitating the horses pulling it. The diplomat and his escorts started looking around for the source of the problem, but obviously couldn't find the problem. "I don't get it, the horses are reacting to something, but I don't see anything."

"It could be wolves or some other predator in the woods."

"Just to be sure, take a head count and check the surrounding area." Naruto got nervous and for a brief second, his concentration slipped, the masking of his chakra disappeared. The men surrounded the wagon. "Come out now!" Naruto slowly crawled out from under it. "A child? Why are you here?"

"I needed to escape from Konoha, I was planning on leaving you before long." His tail flicked to the side and it brought they attention to it.

"What are you?"

"I'm a five year old boy that _contains_ a demon. Its chakra has had some effects on my body."

One of the ninja walked up to him and knelt down. He had sandy blonde hair and caring eyes. "What's your name?"

"Naruto Uzumaki. Who are you?"

"I'm Yashamaru. I'm sorry if we scared you." Naruto stood up, his knees popping as they fitted back together to support his full weight.

"It will take more than you to scare me. I'm sorry for making you worry, now if you'll excuse me, I'll be leaving." Using chakra again, he jumped on to a branch over head. He started sniffing the air. "You might want to get moving as well, someone's coming this way." With that he took off through the trees. He could hear he sounds of fighting and screaming as he leapt through the tree. A large gust of wind come from behind him, bring along with it a smell he was all too familiar with, the smell of blood. Fighting his instincts to run away, he turned and started back to the road.

He hid above them in the trees, all but three of the Suna ninja were dead, Yashamaru among the three. They were bounded to a tree while a group of seven stood around them, all with weapons of some sort. Naruto's blood boiled. 'These people are no better than those from Konoha.' Without thinking he dropped to the ground. Landing soundlessly on his feet, he released the chakra mask. All seven men turned around and were hit by a wave of killing intent. They froze in place and stared at Naruto, they eyes wide in fear. His eyes were no long blue, but blood red and the three whisker marks on each cheek were more defined and thicker.

He smiled a pointy tooth smile that foretold pain. He slowly advanced on them and took their weapons, and one by one he gave them back into their chests. They watched as he killed the others, moving down the line, powerless to stop him. When he reached the last one, he released the killing intent, allowing him to move again. **"You will fight me. If you don't… actually, either way you will die." **Naruto threw his weapon to the ground in front of him and waited for him to pick it up. The man turned around to try and grab one of the sand ninja. Before anyone saw any movement, Naruto was standing next to the man, his hand was dripping with blood and the man fell to his knees holding his throat.** "Pathetic."**

He moved over to where the Suna ninja were bound. He ignored their fear filled eyes as he went around behind them and cut their bindings. By the time he reached Yashamaru his features were back to normal. "You alright?"

"I've been better, but I've also been worse."

"Some shinobi you guys are, beaten by those weaklings. I barely used any of my power. That killing intent was only a drop of the real thing. The first time I used it, I used about a fourth and the whole village felt the effects." He chuckled. "Probably made some of them piss themselves. At full power, I'd guess all of the Land of Fire would feel it."

"Naruto, would you like to come to Suna with us? I'm sure that the Kazekage will allow you to live with me and my nephew."

"I won't be wanted there any more than I was in Konoha."

"At least allow us to repay you."

"There's no need, I didn't do it in hopes for a payment of any kind."

"Then why did you, you could have just as easily left us to their mercy."

"If I had, I'd be no better than them. The reason I did it is simple, the strong should protect those who can't protect themselves, not attack them because of it."

"That's what ninja do."

"Ninja are murderers for hire. They do not care who they work for or what they do as long as they're paid."

"Though that may be true, but if there is a threat to the country, we will fight to protect everyone we can, whether we're paid or not. You could also be trained and become stronger, if you wanted to. Besides, no one said that if you came, you would have to be a ninja. You could live as a civilian and make a living some other way depending on your talents."

Naruto snorted. "My talents. When it concerns a demon carrier, the only talent anyone cares about is only good for causing death. The old man probably did care about me, but I was still a weapon in the making. Hell the only reason the council agree to let me live is because they thought they would have control over me."

"My nephew, Gaara, is like you, he contains Shukaku. No one will stay near him if they can avoid it, what's worse is that even the children know."

"With any luck, he realize what I did and leave. If not, I wish him the best of luck."

"So you won't leave us to our fate, but you will him?"

"Fate is bullshit, it's circumstance. If another baby was born that day, I might not have been chosen to be the container. Had I not come back you would have died. If I don't go, he might be overcome by the prejudice, he may get wise and leave, or he may be able to live with it. He has you to care for him, and I would take his life over mine any day."

"What about if you do come, have you thought about the good things that would come of it?"

"Yes I have, and the bad far out weigh the good, but at least there are some good." Naruto sat down and searched Yashamaru's eyes for a hidden agenda, finding none. "I'll come with you, I'll even become a ninja, but I tell you this now, I _won't_ be used as just a weapon. I may not have full access to Kyuubi's power yet, but I have enough to make your village regret attempting it."

"I understand, but there is something that could prove a problem. Konoha is our ally and since you are a citizen there, they may demand you be returned."

"I won't go back and I won't hide who I am, I've had enough of masks. Besides, they'll be happy that I'm gone."

One of the remaining ninja walked over to them. "Sir, we should get moving, there may be more close by." Yashamaru nodded as he and Naruto stood up.

"We still have a few days walk to Suna. Along the way, I'd like you to tell me what you already know so I know where to start."

Naruto shrugged. "Not much to tell, you know I can suppress my chakra, but other than that, I was it out of necessity and don't know how I do it. I know what chakra is, but I don't know how to use it at will."

"Do you know the hand signs?"

"Three or four."

"Then that's where we'll start." Yashamaru's smile never wavered through out the trip as he taught Naruto the basics of using chakra.

-------------------------

The guard at the gate eyed Naruto warily when he stopped them and asked for their papers. "He's with us. We need to see the Kazekage immediately, please send someone head to inform him." 

The guard nodded and signaled to another who disappeared in a swirl of sand. "Sorry for the inconvenience, he shall know of your arrival by the time you get there." The man bowed and the gate opened. Allowing them to proceed. On the way to the Kazekage's office, Naruto could feel the looks he was getting, most weren't like those he got in Konoha, they were looks of puzzlement and wonder.

When they made it to the building in which they would see the Kazekage, they were ushered to a large hall-like room where he sat. "Yashamaru, who is the young boy with you?"

He was about to reply when Naruto stepped forward. "My name is Naruto Uzumaki, I came from Konoha in hopes that you would allow me to live here." He bowed his head slightly, keeping his eyes on the Kazekage. "If not, please allow me to leave peacefully and I will not bother you again."

The Kazekage smiled. "You don't trust those around you, I can see it in you eyes. It's a wise decision, but I don't wish to harm you. I have already heard that the container of Kyuubi had fled from Konoha." Naruto's ear went flat against his head. "I will allow you to reside here, if they were cruel enough to drive a mere child away, then they have no right to complain that you are here." He turned to Yashamaru. "Are you willing to take him as well?"

"I had intended on asking for it."

"Very well, he is in your care, my son should be happy to have someone his age around. Now what other news from Konoha?"

"The treaty will still be enforced, and unfortunately, we are all that remain of the ones sent. We were ambushed by bandits."

"Naruto, perhaps you should walk around the village, get to know the layout now that you're living here." Naruto nodded. "Be back in a hour, we should be done by then and Yashamaru will take you home." Once Naruto was gone and the door shut, the Kazekage's face was serious. "Tell me everything."

---------------------------

As Naruto walked, he felt a slight pain coming from his lower back, more specifically, the same place his tail grew from. His increased hearing picked up on the yells of 'Demon' and 'Monster' and he quickly turned his head from side to side, looking for the source so he didn't run towards them. He didn't see anything and it took him a few moments to realize that the voice were too far away to be towards him.

His eyes widened as he remembered Yashamaru saying Gaara was like him. 'Shit, they're going to try and kill him!' He bent over as his knees popped in a backwards position and took off towards the yelling, going against everything he taught himself in order to survive. He quickly found the source of the yelling and stood back up. He walked silently up behind them and with a single blow to each, they fell to the ground unconscious.

He looked down the alleyway to see a boy his age with red hair crouching in the corner of the dead end with his hands gripping his head. He walked towards the boy only to be intercepted by a wall of sand. "Stay away! I never did anything to you so please don't hurt me!"

"I won't hurt you. My name is Naruto Uzumaki, you're Gaara right?" The boy slowly lifted his head and nodded. Naruto smiled at him. "Sorry if I scared you, I heard what those people were saying and I couldn't let the get away with it." Gaara looked past him and saw them on the ground, he gasped. "Don't worry, they're not dead, just knock out."

"How did you do that by yourself?"

"I've had to take care of myself since the day I was born, in order to survive I had to get strong. Come on, I'll take you to Yashamaru." Naruto turned around and started walking, but when he reached the opening of the dead end, he realized that Gaara wasn't following him. He turned back around to see Gaara's mouth hung open and his eyes wide. "You okay Gaara?"

"You have a tail."

Naruto chuckled as he walked back to Gaara. "So that's it, I knew I forgot something. Gaara, do you know of the Nine-tailed fox that attacked Konoha?" He nodded. "Shortly after I was born, the Yondaime Hokage sealed the fox into me and I was seen as the demon because of it, just like you. They drove me out of the village because of it."

"You're like me? Why do you have a tail?"

"The fox changed my body to be able to handle the stress of its chakra. I have one tail because that's all I can handle at the moment. If I train, I could grow eight more and have access to all its power." He held out a hand to Gaara, who took it and helped him to his feet. Their eyes met and Naruto saw that Gaara's were bloodshot. "Do you not sleep out of fear of the villagers?"

"No, Shukaku becomes active when I sleep and tries to take over by eating away at my soul. If I sleep, it can only be for a few minutes, normally I meditate to regain my strength."

Naruto shook his head. "It sounds like it wants you to go insane." He bent over his knees bending backwards again. "Hop on, I can get us there a lot faster than if we walk. Once we're there though, we'll have to wait about forty-five minutes, he's meeting with the Kazekage." Gaara's eyes fell to the ground where the sand started shifting. "You don't like him much do you?"

"He's my father, but it's like I don't exist to him."

"In my opinion, Yashamaru is your father. He may not be your birth father, but he's the one that cares for you and looks after you, that is a father. Simply creating something is meaningless, unless you leave your mark on it. If you don't want to go there yet, we can do something else, but I'm suppose to meet Yashamaru there about an hour." He stood back up, his legs shifting back.

"Does it hurt when you do that?"

"The first few times it did, but not anymore. My legs don't have kneecaps, instead the bones that hold the joints together are on the sides. I can move faster like that than most people can run. What about you, surely it gave you something."

"I can control sand, and it protects me."

"So that was it was, and it protects you from any attack?"

"Anything that would cause me harm."

"I can't do that, but I heal minor injuries almost instantly and the more serious ones take about a day, two at most." They started walking down the alleyway. "What do you want to do until we meet up with Yashamaru?"

"We could get something to eat."

"As long as it's not ramen."

"Then you came to the right place, there are no ramen stands in this village."

"Thank god, I don't think I could stand to eat another bowl. The people that ran the one back in Konoha were nice and all, but it's noodles and broth, you can only eat it so many times before you get sick of it." They started walking and when they passed a dumpster, Naruto threw his orange coat in after taking out his money. "I gotta get some new clothes, it's way too hot for this stuff."

"It's because you're from Konoha, it's colder there, but you'll get use to the heat."

"The heat's not the problem, the thickness of these clothes are. Even when I was there, it was hot because of these. These just scream 'I'm over here!'" They choose a BBQ place and sat down. The waitress was shaking as she took their order, and Gaara's head dropped. She walked away quickly afterwards. "Don't let it bother you too much. People are ignorant and deserve our pity for not being able to see us for who we are instead of what we are."

"It still hurts to have people hate me for something out of my control."

"I know, people fear what is different from them, and through we are still human, we are different. We have power that some people would kill for. With that power, we could do great things, or terrible things, it all depends on the choices we make." The waitress came back with their food and left quickly. While they ate, they spoke only once in a while.

When they were done, Naruto looked at the clock. "It's almost time to meet up with Yashamaru." He pulled out his money and paid for their meal. They went outside and Naruto went down on all fours. "Hop on, and hold on tight." Gaara did and Naruto took off through the streets. Gaara pointed the way to get back and they arrived as Yashamaru was coming out.

"I'm glad to see you met each other. Naruto, did you tell him."

"You'll have to be more specific."

"That you're going to be living with us."

"Nope, it slipped my mind. What with Kyuubi, the tail, lunch, and all that."

"But won't your family be worried about you?"

Naruto's ears lay flat against his head. "I don't have one."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about it, you didn't know." That night, Naruto lay next to Gaara as they stared up into the clear night sky. "Hey Gaara, what is it you want to do with your life?"

"I've never thought very hard about it, but probably what everyone wants, a family, friends, and that kind of stuff. What about you?"

"While I will probably come to consider you and Yoshimaru family, I doubt I'll have a wife or children. Friends would be nice too, but I don't know what to do with my life. Before, I planned to become Hokage to get respect from the villagers, but I was just kidding myself, they'll never respect me. I could devote my life and save the village time and again, but they would still only see the 'demon child'." He stayed up with Gaara until well past midnight before sleep claimed him.


	2. Chapter 2

A week had passed since Naruto had arrived at Suna, in that time Yashamaru had brought him some new clothes made for life in the desert. He now wore a blood red sleeveless robe-like shirt that had a flap of extra cloth on the front and back. They reach down almost as far as his black pants, which end a little higher than his ankle and has a hole for his tail, and a black sash that keeps the shirt closed. **(Like Yoko Karama in YYH.) **They were made of a cloth that didn't absorb heat, so even in his dark colors he wouldn't overheat.

Since he arrived in Suna, he was hardly ever separated from Gaara, today was one of those rare times. He was summoned to the Kazekage's office and through he wasn't a ninja, he was obligated to go. He was let in as soon as he got there and found the Hokage there as well. "I know why you're here old man, I'm not going back."

The old man sighed. "I had a feeling you would say that, but I had to try. Lord Kazekage, would it be alright if I spoke with him alone?"

"I have no objections, but it's up to him."

"I'm okay with it as well." The Kazekage nodded and left the room. "I tried the speech you used on me when you told me about Kyuubi old man, and it didn't help that person anymore than it did me.

"I'm sorry to hear that. Naruto, you know the council isn't happy you left?"

"Really, I figured they be jumping for joy now that I'm gone."

The Hokage looked angry. "Oh they're happy you're gone, but not that you're in another village. They view you as a threat."

"As long as I'm left alone, I won't have any reason to be a threat, and you have no reason to attack me. I can't even be listed as a missing-nin because I was only a civilian and I know none of Konoha's secrets. You could have said this in front of the Kazekage, so why ask to talk alone?"

"I figured you wouldn't come back, and I don't blame you for not wanting to, so I brought you two scrolls about your Kekkei Genkai."

Naruto's eyes widened. "You know who my parents are? Why didn't you tell me?"

"I'm truly am sorry about it Naruto, the council overrode my decision to tell you, but since they have no power over you now, I can. Now, I only know who your mother is, and I can tell you that she is still alive, but only she knows who your father is."

Naruto's head dropped. "So she didn't want me."

"No, she did, she really did, but they decided to tell her that you had died after birth. She doesn't know you're alive, except that a child had Kyuubi sealed into them."

"Who is she?"

"My former student Tsunade, the Slug Sannin."

"But that means…"

"The Shodaime was your Great Grandfather. Before his brother, the Nidaime, died, he entrusted these scrolls to me and said that the Kekkei Genkai of their family was pasted down to the eldest male of each generation. The Shodaime had a daughter and Nidaime never had children, so it skipped a generation. His daughter had two children, your mother Tsunade, and Nawaki, her younger brother. Unfortunately, he was killed in the war before he learned to use it. He graduated from the academy only a year and a half before."

"So I'm the only one who can continue it. Do you know where she is?"

"I wish I did, but ever since she left, I haven't heard anything from her. If you plan to try and find her, you should check the bars and casinos first."

"A drinker and gambler?"

"Heavy drinker, and bad gambler, in fact last time I saw her, she had the kanji for gamble on the back of her coat."

"Thanks old man." The Hokage gave Naruto the scrolls and was about to leave when Naruto stopped him. "Next time you see Old man Ichiraku and Ayame, could you tell them I'm sorry?"

The old man smiled at him. "Of course. If she should return, I'll send her your way."

"Thanks, but I don't think she will easily." After the Hokage left, the Kazekage returned and dismissed him. He took off to find Gaara on all fours as soon as he got outside. He followed his scent to a deserted playground. Gaara was staring down at the ground, sadness filling his bloodshot eyes. "What's wrong Gaara?"

The boy's head shot up. "Yashamaru said that my father summoned you to his office and that the Hokage had come to the village earlier. I thought… I thought that…" Tears were falling down his face.

"You thought that I was going to be taken back." Gaara nodded slowly. "I'm not going anywhere Gaara. The old man came to ask if I wanted to go back and if not, to give me scrolls about my Bloodline Trait."

"Did he tell you who your parents are?"

"Only my mother knows who my father is, and she thinks I'm dead because that's what the Konoha council told her. She's the Slug Sannin Tsunade."

"I'm surprised he didn't try harder, your family is basically royalty in Konoha."

"So is being the son of the Kazekage, but we both know they don't care that!" Tears again welled up in Gaara's eyes. "I'm sorry Gaara, I shouldn't have yelled, but it's true, the council knew all along who I was and they did nothing, just like this council does nothing even though you're the Kazekage's son." Naruto smiled. "Would you like to read these with me Gaara?" He pulled out the two scrolls.

"Are you sure, they are your families secrets."

"Yeah, as far as I'm concerned, we're family too." Gaara ran forward, wrapping him in a hug. At first Naruto was shocked that Gaara, who was normally shy, would do something like that, but that soon gave way to the feeling of being ashamed that he didn't know what to do in response. Without thinking, he wrapped his arms around Gaara as well.

"We should probably go home to read it, Yashamaru will be able to help us with any words we don't understand. Care for a ride?" He tucked the scrolls away again after Gaara nodded. He got down on all fours, his knees popping backwards. "Hop on and hang on." Gaara was getting use to traveling on Naruto's back and was starting to really enjoy it. They made it to the house that they shared with Yashamaru in only a few minutes and went to the table. He unrolled the larger of the two scrolls and started to read.

The bloodline of our family is passed to the eldest male of each generation. It has, in fact, two abilities. The first being that they are born with two affinities, Earth and Water, by combining them, they create the sub-element of Wood. With this, you can grow entire forests with enough chakra, as the plants feed on your chakra to grow. The second is an ability that was rarely used, it gives them the power to suppress demonic chakra. It is rarely used because demons tend to keep to themselves as long as they're not threatened. The stronger the demon the more chakra is required to suppress it. When used along side the necklace, the chakra required is cut in half. It is recommended that it be used to suppress the Bijuu should it be necessary to do so.

_The Bijuu are the nine most powerful demons, they each have a different number of tails between one and nine. We believe these rank them from weakest, one, to strongest, nine. We have only come across one such demon, and it told us what they were, but gave no names for them, if they even have names at all. They are as follow:_

_The One-tailed Raccoon Dog_

_The Two-tailed Cat_

_The Three-tailed Shark_

_The Four-tailed Cockatrice_

_The Five-tailed Dog_

_The Six-tailed Weasel_

_The Seven-tailed Badger_

_The Eight-tailed Snake_

_The Nine-tailed Fox_

_We trust this information as the demon gave us its word, and as legends say, this type of demon cannot break its word. We speak of the Nine-tails, who called itself Kyuubi no Kitsune. My brother and I came across it while we searched for a place to build a village, at first it did not like the idea of us being there, but it relented when I used Mokuton to spread the forest further. By doing so, I increased the boundaries of it domain and it was pleased to have more room in which to hunt and live. It gave us its blessings in making the village. _

_Sadly by spreading the forest, I also had infringed on another demon's domain and it was not happy. It tried to attack us, but Kyuubi had not taken the trespassing lightly and the battle between the two nearly killed those who had traveled with us. I ended up suppressing both of their chakras, and as you can imagine, neither were happy. The weaker demon retreated, as did Kyuubi, but it swore vengeance on us. _

_We must continue our line so that someone will be there to defend the village when it comes to fulfill its promise. I have given the necklace to my granddaughter, Tsunade, for safekeeping and so that the future generations with have it. With any luck, there will be a wielder of our bloodline when the Kyuubi seeks it's vengeance, if there is not, the only thing we can do is hope and pray that it will show mercy._

_Along with this scroll, there should be a second, it contains jutsu that utilize Mokuton. These will be useless until they chakra coils fully develop, which is usually around the age of twelve. The other ability is usable from birth, but the user must have a strong will and concentration. On the second scroll, there are also hand signs that channel this power, depending on how much chakra is put into it the longer the affects will last._

Gaara's eyes were glued to the list of the Bijuu, more specifically, the first. "Shukaku and Kyuubi are two of these Bijuu?"

"Which one is Shukaku?" Gaara points to the One-tailed. "Raccoon Dog. That would explain the rings around your eyes and I'm not surprised Kyuubi is. At least I finally know why I got suck being its jailor, through not why I was chosen out of everyone else."

"It may have been your bloodline limit. Who better to contain a demon than someone who can suppress its chakra?"

"It does make sense I guess. Well Gaara, looks like you're going to be able to sleep after all."

"You're going to suppress Shukaku so I can sleep?"

"Yep, every other night for a little while, until I know how much chakra is needed for it to affect you the whole night. Seeing as how it is one of these Bijuu and I don't have the necklace, it could be quite a bit, and I don't think that I can use Kyuubi's chakra to help. Gaara, you get your first peaceful sleep tonight. What should we do till then?"

"You should probably practice the hand signs needed."

"Okay, but I might need you're help, I'm not completely sure on all of the seals."

"Alright." They unrolled the second scroll and Naruto practiced the seals, with Gaara correcting them when it was needed. They continued until dinner and sat on the roof afterwards.

"Gaara, I'm going to do something, it won't last long, but it may seem like I fell asleep, but I'll actually be in my head, there is something I want to check, so don't try to wake me. When I'm done, I promise that you'll get to sleep." Gaara just nodded and continued to look at the stars. Naruto closed his eyes and when he reopened them, he stood before a large gate being held shut by a slip of paper that read 'Seal'.

From within, he could hear deep breathing. He slipped through the bars unafraid and walked up beside the giant sleeping fox that was curled up in a ball, its tails touching the tip of its nose. He stood beside its head, coming up to about its lower lip, and placed a hand on the giant form. "When are you going to wake up?"

Flashback:

The Sandaime had just told him of the fox and he ran from the old man. He continued to run, further and further into the forest, crying real tears for the first time in two years. "Why me? Why was I chosen to be the container? 'For the good of the village.' Aren't I'm part of this village too? How is this good for me?" He ran to the wall of Konoha and fell upon the ground and cried himself to sleep.

_When he woke up, he found himself in a sewer, not caring what had happened, he started walking forward, and continued to walk until he come upon a large room with a equally large gate held shut by a piece of paper. He walked closer and saw that kanji for seal on the paper. He peered through the gate and saw a large shadowy figure lying on the ground, with nine twitching tails. 'So this is the seal, a sewer is a good description of my mind since my life is crap.'_

_He stepped through the gate and walked up to the fox. 'It's asleep?' "Hey fox, wake up!" The fox didn't even twitch. "Might as well go to sleep too, since I have no idea how to get back outside anyways." He climb up on to one of the fox's tails and fell asleep. Waking up he was back in the forest, it was dark out, but he could hear movement in the forest around him, but no sounds of animals. He knew this meant a person was coming towards him. His body tense as it prepared to run, but relaxed when the old man came out of the brush._

"_There you are Naruto, I was really starting to worry that the villagers had found you first." He noticed that the boy wasn't acting like he normally did, there was no smile, or light in his eyes, then he knew what happened, the mask was gone. Sadness filled the old man's eyes. "Naruto, let me take you home, tomorrow we can talk about the ways to hide you ears and tail."_

"_No, I'm done hiding. The mask is not going back up. I don't owe this village anything, my chance at a normal life was taken to save them and they try to kill me because of it. The only people who I owe anything to is you, the old man at Ichiraku, and Ayame. I no longer care about being Hokage, and if I become a ninja at all, it will only be to protect the three of you."_

_Going on the instincts that had always served him well, he got down on all fours, screaming in pain as the knees bent the wrong way. The Hokage looked concerned and disgusted when this happened, and tried to check on the boy, but the legs pushed forward and propelled the boy at incredible speeds through the forest, leaving the Hokage in a state of shock._

Flashback End:

Naruto pet the fox and went back into the conscious world. "Alright Gaara, time for bed." Gaara laid down and was asleep almost instantly. As Naruto made the hand signs, Gaara started to shake. He finished and the kanji for 'Seat' appeared on his palm. "Pleasant dreams my brother." When he placed his hand on Gaara's forehead, the shaking stopped and a smile appeared on the sleeping boy's lips.

Naruto kept himself busy by running through the twelve hand signs over and over. He was slowly getting faster at them, but had to stop after four hours to suppress Shukaku's chakra again, using the slightly more chakra. "It's his first peaceful sleep, he deserves to sleep in."

------------------------------

Yashamaru woke up just after seven and after dressing for the day, went to the roof to see if Gaara wanted breakfast. To his surprise, he found Naruto practicing hand signs and Gaara lying down. "Good morning, would you like some breakfast?"

"Thanks, but I think I'll wait for Gaara to get up, just in case Shukaku acts up again."

'Again? Shukaku only becomes active when Gaara's sleeping…' His eyes widened as Gaara started shaking, he started forward to grab Naruto, but said boy was making hand signs.

"I guess I made the right choice." He finished the seals and placed his palm on Gaara's forehead. The shaking stopped almost instantly and Yashamaru's jaw hung open in surprise and confusion. Naruto turned around and saw this. He smiled sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck. "I guess we forgot to tell you huh." It was a statement more than a question. "You know how the Hokage was here yesterday." He nodded. "He told me about my family, and that I have a kekkei genkai that allows me to suppress demonic chakra, so I told Gaara that we would take turns sleeping. Sorry for not telling you before."

"It's alright, it's just that even through I know it wouldn't be his fault, even I'm afraid of what might happen."

"Can't blame you for that, Shukaku is a demon after all. I'm gonna stay up here until he wakes up."

Yashamaru smiled. "Alright, Naruto. Listen, I have a mission today, and I might not be back for a few days, I know you can take care of yourself, but be careful, the villagers get worse when I'm not around."

"Alright, we'll be careful, thanks for the warning." Yashamaru went back inside and Naruto sat back down to run through the hand signs again. He had made quite an improvement, he could now do all twelve, in any order, in under a minute, and was getting faster every time. Another hour passed before Gaara opened his eyes. "Sleep well?"

"More or less, a few times things started getting bad, but they didn't last long."

"That's why I said we'd be taking turns sleeping, those few times were when the jutsu was wearing off. Yashamaru knows that you can sleep now, in our excitement, we forgot to tell him and happened to be there for one of those times."

"Did he take it well?"

"Of course, he was just a little worried that Shukaku would do something that you'd be blamed for." They went downstairs to eat and found that Yashamaru was already gone and had left a note.

Boys, I'm going on a mission and I could be gone a few days, so stay out of trouble and try not to burn the house down while cooking. There should be more than enough food in the kitchen to last you, but if you need anything, there's some money in an envelope by the fridge. There's not much though, so use it wisely.

Naruto put the note back and turned to Gaara. "What should we do today?"

Gaara looked fearful. "We should stay inside, the villagers get restless when Yashamaru isn't here, I don't want you to get hurt because of me."

"Trust me Gaara, by now they all know why I look like I do. And even if they don't, it wouldn't be your fault, you have no control over their actions." Naruto could easily see that this hadn't eased Gaara's fears any. "But if it makes you feel better, we'll stay here unless absolutely necessary." They spent the entire day inside, not doing much of anything, but as night fell, they could be found on the roof of the Kazekage building staring up towards the heavens. "This is a great place to look at the night sky, no clouds to block out the stars."

"Yes, but unless you're up far enough, the street lights still make it difficult, that's why I come here when I decide to."

Naruto rubbed his eyes and yawned wide. "I'm beat, what say we head home?"

Gaara smiled, but shook his head. "I think I'm gonna stay a bit longer."

Naruto moved over and hugged him. "Alright, but don't stay out too late. I know the sand protects you, but I don't want anything to happen to you." Gaara nodded still smiling. Just as Naruto was about the leave the rooftop, three kunai flew straight towards Gaara only to be blocked by the sand.

The assailant wore the standard outfit of a Suna jonin with a veil covering everything but their eyes, but even they were hidden by the shadows. The attacker pulled six shuriken, three to each hand. "By order of the Yondaime Kazekage, you, Gaara Sabaku, are sentenced to death for inciting mass panic and hostilities toward civilians." As he spoke, Naruto's eyes widened.

'It can't be… why would he, accept this?' As he thought, the jonin let loose the shuriken. Again the sand shot up, but it didn't stop there, the sand formed a demonic looking hand as it raced toward the attacker. Naruto started running forward. "Gaara wait!" But it was too late, the sand had encased the jonin and quickly compressed, sending blood everywhere. The sand then retracted and Gaara looked on in horror as Naruto made it to him. Naruto looked into Gaara's eyes with a sad look.

"N… Naruto, I didn't… I didn't mean to." He grabbed onto Naruto and started crying, which Naruto returned the embrace.

"I know Gaara, I know." He looked over at the body and saw that they were still breathing, but it was labored. "Gaara, I want you to head back to the house, I'll be there shortly." Gaara looked up at him with a scared expression, to which he smile reassuringly. "Don't worry, I promise you, I'll be there before you know it." Gaara was a bit hesitant, but he eventually went and Naruto moved over to the assailant. "Why'd you accept this mission Yashamaru?"

He removed the mask showing Yashamaru's smiling face. "Orders are orders, Naruto. The charges, while partly true, aren't why he was condemned, is because of you." Naruto's eyes widened.

"Me?"

"Yes, you see Gaara's father intended to turn him into a weapon of the village, but because of his inability to sleep, it was very likely that he would become unstable, but my brother-in-law was convinced that he could mold Gaara into the weapon he wanted, then you came along. Your seal is stable, you have access to your demon's chakra, and you aren't influenced by it as far as we can determine. Then just today you show a kekkei genkai that allows you to suppress demonic chakra. I told the Kazekage about that this morning, but afterwards he became more determined that Gaara die, he said that he couldn't allow the two of you to grow too close or you may turn on him."

"And sending you to kill him would drive me to?"

"You weren't supposed to be with him, but he expected the job to be done by tomorrow. He thought it was a very good chance that Gaara wouldn't fight back if he knew it was me, but in the event that he did and I died, he wanted me to shatter his mind and heart to keep his fears from happening. He wanted me to tell him that I hated him for taking my sister from me and that I asked to do this job, but I would rather die than do that to him." Yashamaru started to cough violently and blood came from his mouth. "Naruto, I know I won't live through tonight, so I want to ask you to do three things for me, will you?"

"Depends on what they are."

"Fair enough, first don't tell Gaara it was me, the Kazekage will deny even knowing of such a mission to save face in the eyes of the other villages and probably say I died on a fake mission. Second, look after Gaara for me, keep him from becoming what his father wants him to be. Finally, and I regret having to ask you this, could you get me a quick death?"

"While I don't believe you should get such an easy death, I owe you that much at least. I will do as you ask."

"Thank you. Everything I own is in the house, and I leave it all to you two, anything of value is in a metal box on the shelf in my closet." Naruto nodded and took one of the kunai from Yashamaru's pouch. In a flash the kunai had passed through Yashamaru's throat and the life gone from his eyes. Naruto said a silent prayer and headed home to where Gaara waited.


	3. Chapter 3

Naruto sat in the back of a classroom with Gaara, staring out the open window waiting his turn to take the Genin Exam. It's been five and a half years since Yashamaru's death, and like he predicted, the Kazekage reported him to have died on a retrieval mission near the border of Tsuchi no Kuni **(Land of Earth)**. Despite the time since the attack he could remember what had happened when he returned to the house as if it were yesterday.

_**Flashback:**_

Naruto walked into the living room and found Gaara huddled up in the corner, tears streaming down his face. He looked up when he heard Naruto approaching him and his eyes widened as he noticed the blood that was barely visible on Naruto's shirt. "N… Naruto, are you alright?"

"_I'm fine Gaara, it's not my blood. Your attacker wasn't killed immediately, he was dying slowly from his wounds. I gave him a quick, painless death."_

_Gaara's tears increased. "The villagers are right, I shouldn't exist. I am nothing but a monster!" He ran to the small table that held his mother's picture and grabbed the letter opener that lay there. He placed it three inches from his heart and the sand moved to intercept it, but as it got closer, the harder time it had. He drove the knife forward and it tasted blood, but it wasn't his. Naruto's hand was wrapped around the blade's point, keeping it from moving any closer, and his blood dripped to the floor._

_Gaara looked up and was shocked to see tears in the blonde's eyes. "You're not a monster Gaara. You deserve to live, to have a family, friends, and happiness."_

"_But I…"_

"_You defended yourself when you were attacked, there is nothing wrong with that. It's killing just for the sake of killing that makes someone a monster." Both Gaara and Naruto released the knife, letting it fall to the floor and Naruto went to get something to clean up the blood as his hand healed. It would be two days later that Gaara learned of Yashamaru's death._

_**Flashback End:**_

Since then, Naruto had met Gaara's brother, Kankuro, and his sister, Temari. At first they both regarded the two Jinchuuriki with extreme caution. Slowly but surely, they began to warm up, but Kankuro still tends to keep to himself. In appearance, Naruto had only changed in height, standing just under 5'8", and he now had three tails, having trained nearly everyday in a routine that was borderline insanity** (But still not as crazy as Gai's)**. His hair style had also changed, it was only half of an inch long making it unable to impair his vision or hide his ears, but it kept it spikiness, through at that length it doesn't mean much.

Gaara was the only an inch or two shorter than Naruto. He still had the rings around his eyes, but they were no long blood shot due to them taking turns sleeping, his hair didn't cover much of his forehead and went in every direction. He wore black shinobi pants and sandals with white wrappings going from under the pants into the shoes, but only showing on his right foot. A black T-shirt with a mesh shirt underneath, a red cloth wrapped across his torso twice, right shoulder to left hip, with the ends hanging out the front and back. Behind him sat a large sand gourd, filled with more chakra-endowed sand, with a thick brown leather strap, with three extra, smaller straps for more support, attached to the gourd so it can be carried.

"Well this is boring. Hey Gaara, what was the exam requirements again?"

"Two of the three basic jutsu and another one you learned outside of class."

"Lucky for me that my chakra coils finished developing then huh, otherwise I'd be in trouble with the Bunshin. So what are you going to do for your third?"

"Probably Shunshin, you?"

"I don't know, I don't really want to show off my Kekkei Genkai too much, but that only leaves me with two jutsu other than Henge and Kawarimi." The instructor came back into the room and called Gaara's name. "Good luck." Gaara picked up the gourd and went with the teacher, while Naruto moved over to Temari. "Hey Temari, you nervous?"

She smiled. "You really think I would be nervous Naruto?"

Naruto smiled back and shook his head. "No, but you never can tell when it comes to these kind of things."

"How about you, are you nervous?"

He shrugged. "A little, I haven't decided what to do for my third jutsu."

"Which ones were you thinking about doing?"

"The Gogyou Kitsunes or Gufuu Te."

"Go with the foxes, you've always been better at them. Besides, it takes you a while to build up for Gufuu Te, I think you should leave wind jutsu to me."

Naruto went into a fake pout. "I'm getting better at it."

"I'll admit to that, but it's still taking you too long for it to be useful in a serious fight. I mean, normally when you make a jutsu, you make it so you can use it when you need it."

"Point me to a wind user with enough chakra to use it, and I'll teach it to them gladly."

"One of these days I'll be taking you up on that offer _furball_."

"I look forward to it _fangirl_."

He smirked as her face started turning red. "You… oh you did not just group me together with those airheads! You don't see me chasing after you because your tails and ears!" **(Yes, Naruto has fangirls, despite Kyuubi.)**

His smirk turned into a full-blown smile. "Oh, is it the whiskers?" Although aware of it, he faked oblivious of the continual reddening of her face. Naruto's acted as through he had had an epiphany. "It's the eyes isn't it, I've lost count of the number of people that have said they could get lost in them."

Temari reached for her fan only to be stopped by a rope of sand wrapping gently, but firmly, around her wrist. "Now, now Nee-san, you know he just like to aggravate you." Naruto turned as Gaara approached them and saw the brown clothed hitai-ate dangling in his grip. "Besides, if anything, he's a…"

Gaara found Naruto's hand over his mouth while the blond boy blushed. "Gaara, you promised not to talk about that."

Gaara's sand pushed him off. "Yeah, yeah, but you know it's going to come out sooner or later. Anyways, Nee-san I believe it's your turn." Sure enough, just after he said this, the teacher called out her name. After both boys had wished her luck, she left the room, and Gaara turned back to Naruto. "You should just tell her already. You've _liked_ her for three out of the five years you've known her, if it was just a crush it would have died out when these fangirls started swarming all over you."

"I know, but what if she doesn't feel the same, or worse, what if she does and things don't work out? Either way it could ruin our friendship, and it would put you right in the middle of it."

"Please, you're just scared of rejection, the rest is what you tell yourself to hide that fact." Gaara sat beside the blond. "Nii-san, I know she likes you, in that way I not sure, but she does. The fact of the matter is that unless you do something, nothing is going to change." He leaned back and smiled. "Beside, if she does like you that way, I doubt that you would let it go wrong."

"It's kind of weird though, liking your sister when you're like a brother to me."

I'll admit it's strange to think about, but I look at it this way, if every thing goes well, you could be my actual brother one day."

Naruto blinked in surprise before smiling. "Interesting way to look at it. Gaara, I know I've asked this before, but why do you call me Nii-san when you're almost a year older than me?"

"Because you have wisdom beyond what you should when it comes to how the world works."

"Yeah well, I got a crash course. You did to, but it was delayed a few years." They both remained quiet after this till Temari returned with her own blue clothed hitai-ate.

"Naruto, you're up. Good luck."

Naruto smiled. "Thanks." Naruto got up and followed the examiner to the testing room, where he was retold the requirements to pass. He flew through the head signs and replaced himself with one of the examiners, and again a minute later, then made a perfect henge of the second examiner. Then came time for his final jutsu, he made five seals faster than most could see. 'Tora, Hebi, Ryuu, Tori, Inu.' "Gogyou Kitsune no Jutsu." A multi-colored orb appeared and sank rapidly to the ground. As it did so, it split into five more, one was made of water, one of fire, one of lightning, one of wind, and the last was pure chakra. The all hit the floor at the same time, but the chakra orb sank into the ground as the other four started to take shape. Immediately after it went completely into the ground, a fox of mud, dirt and stone jumped from the floor, its glowing red eyes locked on the examiners as the other four joined it. The wind fox appeared to be a dark gray tornado molded into form with glowing sky blue eyes. The water the made up the third fox was calm and its eyes glowed yellow. The floor was scorched beneath the paws of the fire fox with its glowing blue eyes. Sparks leapt off of the blue lightning fox as its glowing yellow eyes met those of the examiners'.

"Congratulations on passing the Genin Exam, come up to the desk and get your hitai-ate and return to the classroom until the end of the exam." Naruto walked up to the desk silently and grabbed one with a black band. He returned to the classroom with it still in hand and waited as the final three members of the class took their exam, afterwards both examiners returned with a list in hand. "Congratulations to those who passed, but be warned, it only gets harder from here. Be here at ten o'clock to be placed on your teams. For those who didn't, classes start again in a month's time for any who still wish to become ninja. That is all, dismissed."

Gaara, Naruto, and Temari walked together out of the academy where, after saying goodbye, Temari left and Naruto stopped. "Hey Gaara, I have some things I need to take care of, I'll see you at home alright?"

"Alright, but don't take too long, Nii-san and Nee-san are coming for dinner tonight and it's your turn to cook."

Naruto smiled. "I remember." 'That also means it's my turn to sleep.' "It shouldn't be more than two hours." Gaara nodded and started the walk home as Naruto went the opposite direction on all fours. He arrived at the Kazekage tower quickly and went right into his office despite the secretary's protest. The Kazekage looked up from his paperwork and waved the secretary off.

"It's alright, this won't take long I imagine." The woman bowed and left, closing the doors. "So what can I do for you Naruto?"

"I request that you place Gaara, Temari, and I on the same team. I know you have final decision on the team selections which is why I'm asking you."

"And why would I place the three of you together?"

"As I know you are aware, by use of my Kekkei Genkai, I make it so Gaara can sleep. We switch off every other night, and if we are not put on a team, he won't be use to not sleeping for long periods of time and could lose control, killing not only his teammates and the enemy, if there is one, but probably the client and possible future ones as well."

"Is that the only reason you have made this request?"

"No, we also balance out each other. Like the Sannin of Konoha, it would take two of us to defeat another."

The Kazekage smirked. "You believe the three of you comparable to the Sannin?"

"In terms of power, no, but how this team would be made up, yes. Gaara is able to defeat me because his sand can slip through my defenses so I cannot get close, Temari's wind jutsu are able to blow his sand away, while my defense are rooted in the ground, unable to be blown away. But at the same time, Shukaku's wind techniques make Temari's seem like a gentle breeze, I'm able to defeat Shukaku due to both my Kekkei Genkai and Kyuubi, and while Temari wouldn't be able to defeat Kyuubi, I'll make sure she never has to try."

"And what does my daughter offer to this set up?"

Naruto had to bit his tongue to keep a snide remark from passing his lips. "Temari is mostly a mid to long range fighter. While in the desert, Gaara can be anywhere from short to long, but outside he's a short to mid range and so am I, through I prefer short range. When we are outside the desert, long range attackers would be our greatest weakness."

"I will consider your request, now I must ask you to leave, I have other matters I must attend to."

"Thank for your time _sir._" Naruto slightly bowed his head and left via the open window, making his way across the rooftops. When he finally jumped down to street level, he landed in front of a weapons shop, and as he turned to enter Temari and Kankuro walked up to him. "Hey guys, what's up?"

Temari smiled warmly at him. "I'm here to get a new fan, and Kankuro is getting some new parts for down the road."

"What's wrong with the fan you already have?"

"Well, I figured that since I'm a kunoichi now, I shouldn't use a wooden fan that's likely to break, so I'm getting a metal one. How about you?"

He shrugged. "Figured I would restock my equipment, maybe get a specialized weapon." Kankuro muttered a see ya, and walk off as Naruto opened the door. "After you." They went in and started for the fans, picking up kunai and shuriken along the way. After a minute of looking, she picked the biggest of all the fans there. "Hey Temari, why'd you pick such a huge fan, wouldn't one of the smaller ones be better?"

"You know, for trying to use wind jutsu, you don't know much about them. The larger the fan, the more wind you effect and the more power you get."

"Okay, but still, what happens if you get ambushed in a corridor or something where you don't have enough room to swing such a large fan? You'd die unless you have enough other weapons, which you aren't very good at using."

"So, what's your point?"

"Why not get a hand fan too so if you ever can't use your main one, you have a back up."

"I suppose you're right about that, but I only have enough money for the one."

"So buy that one and wait a bit for the other, as genin, we'll be doing D-rank mission at first anyway, so you won't really need any weapons."

He turned to start browsing for a special weapon when she spoke again. "There is another reason why I didn't buy a hand fan. Kankuro's teammate **(I put him in the class a year ahead of them)** Kagura is another fan user and she uses one. She thinks she so much better than me because she's able to get just as much power out of hers as a large fan."

"So she's good with a hand fan, so what? All that means is she adds more chakra to her attacks, which isn't a good idea because it'll tire her out faster. The only reason I suggested it is because I don't want you to get hurt if you can't use your primary fan. Besides, with a smaller one, you could still attack while you're riding on your fan."

"Do you ever get tried of analyzing everything?"

"Like you don't do the same thing. You analyze everyone but yourself, otherwise I wouldn't have had to point out the usefulness of a smaller fan in your fighting style."

"And you do?"

"Yes, I know my faults. Genjutsu is my biggest one, I need long range and offense jutsu, my Taijutsu is lacking, my speed standing up could be better, and my tails are vulnerable so it would be easy for someone to grab them, same with the flaps on my clothes. It also takes a few moments to remove my weights, my ears are highly sensitive, same with my nose and eyes, and my chakra control isn't even genin level. And I'm working to overcome them all." He smiled at the look of shock on her face. "Did I miss anything?"

"Well, no, but I didn't think you would actually list them off for everyone in the store to hear."

He shrugs. "Let them try and use it against me, I've always thought better on the fly anyway. Who knows, it may be because of one of them that I overcome some of my faults."

She smiles and shakes her head. "So, what kind of weapon are you looking for?"

He turns back to the shelves. "Not sure. Figured I'd just look around and see if anything caught my eye." Shaking her head again, she walked him to pay for her fan while he searched the store. She met back up with him as they came to a wall that was covered in blades. His eyes scanned the wall all the way across before resting a pair of daggers almost completely hidden by three stacks of boxes. From what he could see of them, their blades were crossed and didn't look alike. He glanced around the shop and found the owner restocking the displays close by. "Excuse me sir, but could you tell me about those two daggers?"

The man walked behind the counter to where the blades hang. "Which two?"

"The two behind the boxes."

The man's smile dropped a bit, but took them off the wall and placed them on the counter. "You got some sharp eyes boy." Naruto wasn't listening, instead he was staring at the blades in front of him.

One was fifteen and a half inches long total, the blade being nine inches from handle to tip, four inches at its tallest, a fourth of an inch at its widest, and another three running an inch and a half away from the hilt on one side and curved into a point adding more room as it goes. The hilt was six inches of a dark stained wood, an inch thick and an inch and a half tall. The hilt curved upwards half an inch to meet the blade where it had a rounded face before slanting down to the bottom of the hilt. At the back the hilt was two inches tall with rounded edges and curved to the level of the rest of the hilt at half an inch from the back. The whole hilt was covered with a dark red wrap, except that half-inch and an inch at the front, where there were pins to keep the blade and hilt connected. From the top of the handle, the blade arched inward to a point before arching inward again to the tip. The bottom was arched outward till it was below the point on the top, where it arched inward before arching back outwards and curving to a point beneath the hilt. From there it was a slight upward curve till it was a quarter-inch below the bottom of the hilt where there was a half circle indent connecting the curve to the hilt. Both the top and bottom of the blade was sharpened to an edge and was a dark gray and an almost white-gray on the edges.

The other was fourteen inches long, the blade running all of that due to the position of the hilt. The hilt, like the other's was six inches long, an inch thick, made of wood, rounded edges, and had pegs in it, the difference however, was that it was two and a half inches tall at the back, two at the front and between two and one inches in between, a medium shade of brown stained wood was used, there was no wrapping and was visibly connected to the blade at the front and back. At the back there was a tab half an inch long at the bottom, from there the blade curved both towards the front and back. The back curve ended after three fourths of an inch in a point, a fourth of an inch out from the back of the hilt. The front curved slightly towards the hilt for an inch before leveling out and stopping a half-inch from the tip of the hilt and angling upwards and backwards to meet the bottom of it. The gap formed where the fingers could fit was between one and a half to two inches wide. The top of the blade was curved downwards, a half-inch at the most, all the way to the tip. From there it curved down till it was four inches tall and five from the tip, then curved inward an inch for six before curving back outward half an inch from the previously lowest point and forming a crescent curve to the back point. The blade was edged only on the bottom and was black in color with a cement gray for the edge.

**(A/N: I know the descriptions suck, but I've drawn what they look like and plan to make them available for you to see.)**

"So what do you want to know?"

"Why were they put together, aren't sets suppose to be twin daggers?"

"Normally yes, unless the buyer wants two different styles. These two however, I figured the quickest way to get rid of them was to sell them together."

"Get rid of them? Why?"

"I've had these thing almost as long as I've owned this store. I bought them from a traveler, a very sick looking young man that probably didn't live too long after. Anyways he said that both of the blades were cursed, you know the normal things, bad luck, gruesome death, crappy love life, the works, a bunch of bullshit if you ask me cause nothing's happened to me. But all the same I'm required and honor bound to tell anyone interested in buying them, which scares them off, the superstitious fools. I've even lowered the price to the point that I'll lose over half of what I paid for them."

The man made to put them back. "How much are they?"

The owner narrowed his eyes. "Look kid, if this is a joke, it's not funny."

"Who's joking?" Naruto pulled out his wallet, the only thing he had kept from his life in Konoha, Gama-chan. If Temari wasn't spacing out over what she had heard, she would have been laughing at the childishness of it. Naruto had paid for them and received the two custom leather sheathes, both had a belt loop on the back. "So, you ever try these to see if they had any special abilities?"

"I wasn't fully trained as a ninja, so I couldn't do much, but they channel chakra easily, anything else is up to you to find out about."

"Alright, thanks." Temari followed him out of the store and to the puppet store on autopilot. By the time they got there she had snapped out of it and searched the store to find that Kankuro had already left. Being the kind of guy he was, Naruto offered to walk her home, she gave a slight nodded, but hadn't spoken a word since they left the weapon shop, and he was getting a little worried. "So, are you two still planning on coming over for dinner, cause if you're not I need to know so I don't make too much."

Her head turned in his direction "Huh? Oh yeah, we'll be over before six."

He sighed. "What's wrong Temari?" She looked shocked that he could see something was wrong, but she tried to tell him it was nothing. "Come on, I know you better than that. The only times you space out is when you're worried, trying to understand something that happened, or over analyzing something a.k.a thinking too much, so which is it?"

"Mainly two, but a bit of one I guess. It's just I don't get why you bought those daggers after he told you they're cursed. I mean, even if there aren't a lot of them, there are people that don't want you to die in some horrible way, or be alone your whole life."

"Temari, between the Kyuubi and a career as a shinobi, I'm pretty much guaranteed everything they're suppose to do. Besides I'm already cursed, so what's one or two more?"

A smirk played on Temari's lips. "Two or three."

Naruto couldn't help but smile. "Smart ass." After dropping Temari off at her house, Naruto, instead of walking walk he usually would, used his own variation of Shunshin, the Ne Shunshin. Roots shot up and spiraling into a cone around him before quickly disappearing back into the earth, leaving the ground untouched.


	4. Chapter 4

Dinner was about as uneventful as can be considering who was attending, and after Temari and Kankuro left, Naruto and Gaara did the dishes and went out onto the roof. Gaara was sitting up while Naruto was lying down looking at the stars. "Hey Nii-san, what do you think the teams will be?"

"Well if they're smart, they'll put the two of us together. As for the third person, because of Shukaku, it will probably be one of the orphans, or Temari as everyone else's parents will panic if their kid's placed on your team, more so if we're together. No matter who they place as the third member, we'll just have to show them we're not what everyone makes us out to be, however that's easier said than done. I think I'm going to hit the hay, wake me should anything happen, or an hour before class."

"I will, good night Nii-san."

"Good night Otouto." He saw Gaara smile before he closed his eyes and drove into the depths of his mind. When he reopened his eyes he found himself before the gate and there was the sound of movement within the darkness. "I see you are finally awake, I have been waiting for you to be for the past seven years."

Two large red eyes appeared behind the bars. **"What's going on? Where am I? Who are you?" **Naruto three tails swayed behind him, bringing them to the notice of Kyuubi. **"You are a kitsune? No, your scent is that of a hanyo. Release me and I shall reward you, and your kitsune parent."**

"I cannot do that. If I did, there'd be no telling what would happen to me. You see, you're not imprisoned just anywhere, you are sealed within me. I'm like this because of you."

Kyuubi growled. **"Jinchuuriki, the only thing lower than a hanyo. Your kind are nothing more than a parasite, relaying on strength not your own to survive. That blonde bastard and that the damn overgrown frog will pay for doing this to me!"**

"I know this may sound strange, but are you male or female? People normally refer to you as either he or it, as most do not consider females capable to destruction on the level you've been known for. I however know from experience that they can, due to both Temari when she's angry, and stories of what my mother has done in her time, in addition to the fact that I've read kitsune tend to take a female shape to trick humans."

**"How dare you write off what I've said and ask the Great Kyuubi no Kitsune her gender?!"**

Naruto had a bored look on his face as he stared up into the demon's eyes unflinching. "So female then?" There was silence for a moment and then light grumbling about 'damned blondes'. "You know unless you want people to think you're a male, you should lose that overly masculine voice. And as for that statement of relying on your power to survive, the only thing your yokai does for me is healing, and keeps me from getting sick. I haven't needed your power in almost seven years, and I've been suppressing it as much as possible since I learned of my family's abilities. I assume that these tails represent how much of your yokai my body is able to handle."

This was followed by laughter from within the cell. **"So that is why you are my prison. You are of his blood, the only human who had the power to defeat me fairly, though your ability in his art is impressive for one so young, especially since you do not have his amplifier."**

"I also came to that conclusion when I learned of my family. And thank you for the compliment, I've had a lot of practice suppressing Shukaku so Otouto is able to sleep."

"**Your Otouto is a Jinchuuriki as well?"**

"Brother in all but blood. I doubt you care, but we are no longer in the village my great-grandfather built, and as for the Yondaime, that blonde bastard you mentioned, he died shortly after your sealing. As the price for sealing you, the Shinigami ate his soul, or at least that's what I was told. As for Jinchuuriki being parasites, keep in mind that you live within my body and need me to live, cause if I die so do you."

"**I'm not here by choice!"**

Naruto's tail whipped angrily through the air behind him. "You think I would have chosen this if I had a choice?!"

Kyuubi cocked an eyebrow. **"You wouldn't huh? That would mean you never came here, or met your Otouto, not to mention not have nearly as much power as you do."**

Naruto sighed. "I'll admit that I wouldn't want to have not come to Suna and met Gaara, even though I may have gotten to grow up knowing my Kaa-san, but power doesn't mean everything. I mean look at you, your suppose to be the most powerful being this world has ever seen, a walking natural disaster, and you were taken down by one mortal man."

Kyuubi growled. **"He had help, that damnable toad, you, and most importantly the Shinigami itself. Without the Shinigami's help the village would have been destroyed."**

"You were really going to destroy the whole village just because my Great-grandfather suppressed your yokai to protect his people?"

"**What? No. I was just going to play a trick on him, you said it yourself, we kitsune love tricking humans, I probably was going to transformed into my human form and send him flying."** Both chuckled as they imagined the scene. **"No the whole destroying the village thing was all Madara's idea. I told him to piss off, but he used the highest form of the Sharingan on me. Never should have evolved his eyes from the unstable mix of the Rinnegan and Byakugan he was born with, ungrateful bastard."**

"So the highest form has the power to manipulate even you, I'll have to be careful if I ever run into an Uchiha with all three tomes."

Kyuubi started laughing. **"You thought I was talking about that pathetic stage? While it may be powerful against humans, it is pitiful against one such as myself, no there are two stages beyond that, but the price is more than most are willing to pay. I'm not normally as bad as everyone makes me out to be, but I've been prone to have sadistic fits from time to time, and when I evolved his eyes happened to be one of those times. To get the first of the two stages, the Mangekyo Sharingan, one must kill their closest friend, thus enabling them to use the black flames of Amaterasu, which are hotter than the sun and burn for seven days and nights. It also give them a powerful genjutsu called Tsukuyomi, which can be used for all sorts of things, the least of which includes torture, were the user is in complete control of everything, even time making it so three days can pass in the span of a second. The problem with this stage is that with every use, the user's eyesight deteriorates eventually making them blind. The final stage is the Fukyuu Mangekyo Sharingan. In addition to the powers of the other stages, it allows the user to transport his/her soul and eyes to a new vessel, making them basically immortal, hence the name, but if the person whose body their trying to take has a stronger will, they will remain in control of their body and could probably use the Sharingan themselves. Should they get this stage, their eyesight will no longer fade, but to do so, they have to take the Mangekyo eyes from a sibling, only Madara has ever reached this stage."**

"So you're talking about the Madara Uchiha that helped found Konoha, he's still alive?" He got a nod from the fox. "Well then, they have to change the history books, because they say he was killed be the Shodaime Hokage at Shuumatsu no Tani."

**"He destroyed the body, but the soul escaped into a new host. Madara is by every definition a parasite, moving from host to host, taking their strengths and then moving on when they're no longer of use."**

"Would he be able to take over my body like that?"

**"No, my yokai prevents that power from working on me and by extension you. It was the only counter to the eyes that I created as I thought someone may try to use it to gain my powers, but I underestimated the power I granted to the other abilities. So why is it you are no longer in the village your ancestor made?"**

"Well, almost everyone thought I was you in human form and tried to kill me, and that was before I started growing these furry appendages." He waved his hand at his tails. "Not to mention the daily 'fox-hunts', and that they told my mother I died soon after birth so she doesn't know I exist."

**"But why come to Shukaku's territory? Why leave mine unprotected when you could have ruled over it yourself? Without someone there to fight for it, any demon can claim it as their own."**

"The main reason I came here was Gaara. When his uncle first asked if I wanted to come here, I said no and was about to leave when he told me what Gaara contained. I knew that even with his uncle, his life was going to be one hardship after another, and that I had to come and make sure his life didn't become as hard as mine, but in case it did, I would become strong enough to get him away from here. Even if I had stayed there, I wouldn't be a match for a demon, besides it wouldn't surprise me if most, if not all, of the other Bijuu were sealed after you and Shukaku were to balance the table of power between villages."

**"The Bijuu are just the strongest of the demon clan leaders Kit, and there are hundreds of thousands of each kind of demon, hundreds of species, and any demon can challenge another. When your ancestor suppressed my yokai, I was fighting a Nibi-Uma that was pissed my forest grew outward expanding my territory and shrinking his."**

"That's more or less what the scroll I got said. I have only one more question I wish to ask, and then I'll leave if you want me to. Am I still human?"

**"I don't how to answer as I don't know myself, you're appearance and scent suggest you're a Hanyo, but it doesn't appear as through you produce your own yokai like one would."**

Naruto nodded. "I understand. Would you like for me to leave, because I will if you want me to."

**"You are a strange one Kit, this is your mind yet you ask me if I want you to leave."**

"While it is my mind, you also reside here, and since we're going to be together for the foreseeable future, we should try to get along, or at the very least not want to kill each other." Naruto smiled when he heard her chuckle.

**"Then please stay, if we are to get along, we will need to know about each other."** The two large eyes disappeared and a humanoid silhouette appeared and was moving towards the gate. When she reached the gate, Naruto's eyes widened and his jaw dropped. Her dark red hair was pulled into a high ponytail except for two locks that framed her face and fell onto her shoulder. Her bangs covered her forehead, but weren't long enough to fall into her eyes. Her eyes were red with slits for pupils and she had red lipstick on her full lips. She wore a tight brownish-red top that went from the neck don at an angle to just above the bottom of the rib cage, were it wrapped around the back. At the bottom of her top, was dark brown leather with gold trim that wrapped around from the back at a downward angle and came to a point that slightly over lapped her short orange skirt that reach close to mid-thigh and was split halfway up both sides. She had brown leather high-heeled boots that reached mid thigh and were stitched up the outer sides with orange pull straps at the top. On her arms, she had gold bands around both biceps, and cuffs made of the same material as the bottom of her top with a gold button holding each closed. Around her neck she had a gold plate on two gold cords that had something written on it that Naruto could see, and let's not forget the nine red tails swishing behind her, or the two red fox ears peeking out of her hair. **"Hm, that's strange, I was positive you were going to go flying from a geyser of blood from your nose. Oh well, that just means I don't have to waste time waiting for you to wake up. My name's Karin."** (Karin for Shadow Hearts: Covenant- Not mine either)

Naruto snapped himself out of his shock almost as soon as she started talking again. "Naruto." They spent the rest of the night talking until Gaara woke Naruto up for team placements. They walked into the classroom in their normal attire, with the addition of their hitai-ates, and a small black bag tied by its draw stings to Naruto's sash. Gaara's hitai-ate was tied around the strap of his gourd, while Naruto's was tied securely around his left bicep. They sat by Temari in the back, who had her fan leaning against the wall and hitai-ate around her neck. Gaara put his gourd up against the wall as Naruto greeted Temari. "Morning Temari."

"Morning guys. I can't wait to find out who my teammates are."

"Who knows, the three of us may get lucky and get put on the same team."

"Maybe. So did you bring those daggers of yours?"

"Yeah, but I have them sealed cause I'm not sure how to carry them, or even how to use them yet. Not much point of using a weapon till I'm familiar with it, otherwise it could get me killed." Gaara was silent while they were talking, but nudged Naruto when the instructor walked into the room with a piece of paper in his hand.

"Alright class, I want to once again congratulate you on becoming Genin and say that from here on it only gets harder. Now, I'm going to name off the team members, followed by the Jonin sensei for that team, and then where they've asked you to meet them. You should leave immediately once you team's been announced so as not to keep your new sensei waiting. I'm only going to say the teams once, so pay attention. Now Team One will be Gaara Sabaku, Naruto Uzumaki, and Temari Sabaku. Your jonin sensei will be Baki. He'll meet you at Training Ground Nine." (I'm too lazy to think up names for the other teams, especially when the only teams that are going to be mentioned again are this one and Kankuro's.)

The training ground was bare of anything but dunes of sand and a man in a jonin uniform, his hitai-ate attached to a cloth that was wrapped around the top of his head and used to cover the left side of his face and two red marks just under his right eye. He waited till they were all standing in front of him before specking. "Alright, I'm sure you already know my name, but I'll say it anyway, it's Baki. You will refer to me as sensei or sir. I know you're names, and I'm sure you know each other so I'm going to skip the introduction and just get down to business. It is up to the jonin sensei to determine whether or not the team assigned to them actually becomes genin, if they decide not, those three are sent back to the academy or dropped from the program completely." He paused for a moment to gauge their reaction and smirked when he saw they didn't give one. "Each Jonin has their own method for doing this, mine is relatively simple. I will test your abilities in a one-on-one fight and to see if you are prepared to be genin. After I test all three of you, should one or more of you not be ready, you will all be sent back, though if those that did impressed me enough I may recommend them for apprenticeship. Any questions?"

Naruto tilted his head to the side. "Sir if we are a team, shouldn't we be tested as one?"

"It is true that teamwork is important, but unlike what our ally Konoha believes, I know that it not something that you can expect from a newly formed group, it takes time. That is what the D-rank missions are for, time to make a squad into a team before they're given harder and more dangerous missions. Now that that's out of the way, who would like to go first?" Gaara took a few steps forward and stopped. Temari opened her fan seeing this, hopping on to it and allowing Naruto on as well before rising into the sky to watch. Gaara stood there with his arms crossed and staring Baki down.

The jonin shot forward, never taking his eyes off of Gaara even as he zigzagged between sand pillars that shot from the ground. When he finally did reach Gaara, he swung his left hand, only for it to impact a wall of sand. Before he could move, the sand that made up the wall shift and lashed out at him, wrapping him in a sand cocoon. Gaara frowned before closing his outstretched hand, causing the cocoon to implode and fall back to the ground. Up on the fan Temari couldn't believe her eyes, Gaara had just killed their sensei. Naruto placed a hand on her shoulder, but did take his eyes off the area below them. "Temari, there's no need to worry, the Baki Gaara crushed was only a clone, somehow he always seems to know the difference."

As Naruto spoke, Baki shot out of the sand behind Gaara and threw several shuriken at the boy's back, only for them to be intercept by a sand wall as well. When it fell, Gaara stood there looking at him, but his arms were down at his sides and from the elbow down, they looked like Shukaku's arms. The sand user shot towards the jonin and began to send blow after blow at him with the demonic limbs. Even through blocking wasn't effective, Baki was unable to mount a counter attack because as soon as he attempted to do so, a wall of sand would shoot up between him and his student, and he was prevented from escaping the close range combat by Gaara's speed. After a few minutes of the jonin's guard being pummeled, he was able to put enough distance between them to pull off Kawarimi. The strike that had been intended for him had enough force to shatter the rock he had used as a replacement. As the red head was about to charge again, Baki held up his hand, signaling Gaara to stop, and it being safe for the blondes to land. "You performed excellently Gaara, and your Taijutsu was better than I had expected it to be given your Suna no Tate." He turned to the approaching blondes. "Now who will be next?"

Naruto took a step back and held out his hand towards the jonin while looking at Temari with a smile. "Ladies first."

A smirk appeared on Temari's lips. "I'd normally kick your ass for a comment like that, but I think I'll let it slide this time given the situation."

Naruto leapt back to where Gaara had moved to and started making hand signs while Gaara held out his right hand and had his left middle and index fingers up to his eye. The sand rose from the ground and formed a sphere bigger than his palm hovering over his outstretched hand and took the form of an eye before it rose into the sky. When Naruto's string of seals was completed, he slammed his hand against the ground. "Mokuton: Moku Joheki." Beams of wood shot from the earth and formed a dome over the boys. With his work done he sat next to Gaara, who placed his right middle and index fingers up to the blonde's eye. Naruto's open eye widen with shock. "I didn't know you could share the sight of yourDaisan no Me."

"I have to have something to busy me while you sleep. Testing it was more trouble than I thought it would be though."

Temari stood before Baki with her fan held behind her back open, her right hand on the butt of the weapon, and her left holding the thick paper-like material. As soon as he said go, Temari released the fan with her left hand and, using the momentum, made a backhanded swing releasing a number of large blades made of wind. "Fuuton: Kamaitachi no Jutsu." Baki looked at the blades without expression and swiped his hand through the air, making blades of his own, though smaller in size and number. Temari smirked when she saw just, but was surprised when the smaller blades cut through her own and continued towards her. She quickly rushed through handsigns and replaced herself with Baki just as the first of the blades reached her. Upon appearing however, she saw the Baki she had replaced with crumble into sand after being hit just before she was sent to the ground curtiousy of Baki fist.

Snapping her fan closed, Temari swung it at the jonin's side, only for it to be caught and her to be sent to the ground again, but with out her fan. "I believe I've seen enough." Baki put the fan over his shoulder as he walked over the Temari and handed her back the fan. "Your senseis claim you have a stratisic mind, but from what I've just seen, if your plan fails, you fail to think of another. You also rely too heavily on long range ninjutsu, neglecting genjutsu and taijutsu, made apparent by the fact that when forced into close courters, you used your large fan instead of your fist which had a higher probablity of connecting. Your chakra reserves are larger than most girls your age, and your Fuuton jutsu was impressive given you used regular chakra, but that does not mean you should slack off in the other areas of training." She nodded looking down cast and started towards Gaara as Naruto came towards Baki.

Naruto stopped as pasted Temari. "You fought well Temari, even if you did lose, he is a jonin after all. Just remember, now that you know where you're lacking, you can overcome it." She turned back to look at him and found he had put over five feet between them already. She smiled at he back and continued towards Gaara. When she got there, he filled the hole in Naruto's wood dome with sand and placed his fingers at Temari's eye like he had Naruto.

Naruto stopped ten feet from Baki, his right hand closed into a loose fist while his left was open, the bag on his hip slightly open. "Your senseis and even Kazekage-sama say not to underestimate you, at first I had assumed it was because of your demon, but if what I've read in your file is correct, this match will be the most interesting one I've had in a while." He slid his left foot forward a little and brought his hands up to neck level in fists, his left held further from his body than his right, and as soon as he said go, Baki disappeared. Naruto stood there, his body unmoving, then his ears twitched and he ducked, allowing a kick to pass over his head, and swung his left arm out, hitting Baki in the leg he had planted. The hit cause the leg to join the other in the air and Baki's body was almost horizontial in the air for a few seconds before Naruto nailed him just above the groin with his right hand. As Baki hit the ground, Naruto kicked him in the side sending him flying back a little ways.

Naruto used this time to make five seals. "Gogyou Kitsune no Jutsu." Within seconds, five knee high elemental foxes stood in front of the blonde. "Go." The foxes charged toward the jonin while Naruto made another seal. His face and body began to deform and bumps appeared all over him before wood came out of his sides and form two copies of him. "Mokuton: Moku Bunshin. Keep him busy." The two clones nodded and charged after the foxes while the real Naruto held his right hand up in front of his face and held the elbow with his left hand.

The lightning fox was the first to reach the jonin, and with its speed sank it teeth into his leg, and sent electricity into his body, but like with Temari, Baki crumbled into sand, burying it. The other foxes arrived together as the bunshin collapsed and the earth fox was hit by a kunai with an explosive tag attached to it, which went it exploded also caused the water fox to be dispelled. The wind fox charged the newly found jonin, but instead of attacking him, it ran past, its tail passing close to him. As it ran past, he felt a sharp pain run through his leg, and found there a cut in his pants and blood trickling down his leg from a thin cut. While he was distracted, the fire fox jumped on to his back, burning the back of his vest in several places, before biting down on his shoulder. Baki yelled in pain as he reached over his shoulder, grabbed the fox and threw it to the ground, burning his hands in the process. Naruto's clones arrived as it hit the ground and one attempted to implant his fist in Baki's gut, but the jonin dodge it and blocked a follow up kick from the other. Baki sent a kick to the first clone's stomach and knocked him towards where the fire fox was getting back up. The second clone threw his fist towards Baki's head, and was cut in half by an unseen force, and Baki stood as though he had swung a sword. The wind fox took that moment to run at Baki again, but the jonin saw it coming and replace himself with the remaining clone, who was literally cut down as the fox ran between its legs.

Instead of stopping though, it kept running full speed and was met by the fire fox. Both collided and in the end only the fire fox remained, but it was twice it orginal size and now had two tails instead of one. Baki eyed the fox, it now stood up to his waist and the fire was no lorger contained, it still held the shape, but the flames were burning out of control. He also saw that the sand underneath and around its feet had turned to glass. He saw it dart, and jumped to the left thinking it was coming at him, instead he found that it had run in a semi-circle and placed itself between him and Naruto, who he noticed was preparing something new and the jonin smirked. 'Very interesting indeed.' He looked back at the fox, who seemed content to stay where it was wait its master finished whatever he was doing. Baki took out another kunai and wrapped a explosive tag around the handle before throwing it at the fox. Said fox didn't move as it came closer and when it connected, the kunai melted and the tag burned before the chakra in it could get past the fuse. Baki cursed and looked back at Naruto, thankful whatever he was doing took so long. The fox sprang forward, creating more disks of glass as it did and tried to plow into Baki, but the jonin was able to dodge, though the heat he felt from it was blistering, even after a lifetime of living in the desert. What he hadn't expect however was for one of the tails to whip out at him and slam into his gut. He was knocked off his feet and set the front of his vest on fire. He quickly discarded the vest after getting back to his feet and found the fox to be getting smaller at an axcelerate rate. He let out a relieved sigh as the fox burned itself out. However he beath caught at the sound that rivaled every sandstorm he had ever heard coming from the direction of his student. He found the blonde running towards him with his right fist reeled back, wind circling around most of his forearm at such a velocity that the jonin was surprised that it remain intact.

Even over the sound of the blonde's attack, he heard the name being shouted. "Gufuu Te no Jutsu!" At thirty feet, the blonde threw his hand forward and the spirling wind extended from his hand, expanding outwards as it shot towards the jonin, picking up sand as it went making it more dangerous. Baki went to try and get out of the way of the jutsu, but he felt something moving beneath his pants. He looked down to find that thick roots were emerging out of his pant legs and binding his legs together and then stuck into the ground. While this was happening, more came out of his waist band and shot upwards to bind his hands to his sides. His eyes widened as he remember the hit to his stomach near the beginning of the match. He smiled just before the wind slammed into him, the wind and sand cutting into his exposed body while the roots that had stuck into the ground kept him from being blown away. When the attack ended, he found himself frowning at the lack of power it held from what appeared to be a devastating attack. His students rushed to him as the roots released him and the seed fell to the ground. Baki grabbed the seed and glared at Naruto, who smiled sheepishly. "Sorry about that sensei, but I had to make sure you didn't try to get out of the way, or releasing it so far away would have been pointless." Baki's glare was lessened and replaced ewith curiousity. "I released it early so the wind wasn't strong enough to seriously hurt you, but even still, the closer you get to the side of the attack, the more powerful the wind is."

Baki thought back to when he was hit by it and though his face remained passive, inside he was shuddering just imaging the power from its intended range. "It is a impressive jutsu, however I noticed it took you quite some time to prepare it, making it difficult to use in battle." Temari give him an 'I told you so' look. "However I believe with help it could become easier. Your taijustu, at least what I saw from your clones is sloppy, but you have excellent reflexes, your foxes, given more training, could become exceedingly dangerous to your opponents and what I read in your file seems to be accurate as well." He looked at the seed and than at Naruto, looking him up and down before his eyes rested on the bag. "Am I right to assume that is where you keep your seeds for your Mokuton jutsu?" Naruto nodded. "I see, I would suggest finding another way to carry them as it will be too difficult to get into in the heat of battle." 'Which is probably why he didn't use them much in this match.' The blonde boy nodded and Baki smiled. "Good, now I'm pleased to announce that you all pass, from now on we'll be spending the mornings doing missions and afternoons training. Meet at the Kazekage building at seven tomorrow morning. If that is all, you're dismissed." Sand whirled around Gaara and Temari was shrouded in smoke and both were gone, but Naruto remained. "What is it Naruto?"

Naruto smiled sheepishly again. "I was hoping to find out what my file said."

Baki held himself back from laughing and smiled. "It said you're cunning, able to come up with amazing plans of the fly, your jutsu, while small in number and used in unorthodox manners, produce surprisingly excellent results, that you have an analytic mind, and you have several characteristics needed for a leadership role." Baki got a thoughtful expression on her face before looking Naruto dead in the eyes. "Naruto would you be willing to teach me Gufuu Te?"

"I can try, but even if you do learn it, there's a chance you might not be able to use it to its full potential due to the amount of chakra needed. I can use it five times before having to rest, but because I'm a Jinchuuriki I have more chakra than most people."

"I understand, thank you." Naruto nodded and disappeared from the training grounds using Ne Shunshin.

* * *

Hanyo- Half Demon

Fukyuu Mangekyo Sharingan- Eternal Kaleidoscope Copying Wheel Eye

Nibi-Uma- Two tailed Horse

Mokuton: Moku Joheki- Wood Release: Wood Locking Wall

Daisan no Me- Third eye

Fuuton: Kamaitachi- Wind Release: Cutting Whirlwind Technique

Gogyou Kitsune no Jutsu: Five Elemental Foxes Technique

Mokuton: Moku Bunshin- Wood Release: Wood Clone

Gufuu Te no Jutsu- Tornado Hand Technique

Ne Shunshin- Root Body Flicker


End file.
